Markel Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Markel Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 204,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $101,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,167,559,000 after purchasing an additional 354,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,176,828,000 after purchasing an additional 172,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,820,533,000 after buying an additional 35,945 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,318,325,000 after buying an additional 797,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Linde by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,784,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,171,959,000 after buying an additional 695,771 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $541.75.

Linde Trading Up 0.8%

LIN stock traded up $4.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $529.79. 1,857,885 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,264,075. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $513.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $487.73. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Linde Profile

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.